pizza Tropical Micro Pizza

[jimsmodeltrains]

With the left over bamboo, palm trees, and agave plants purchased for my Brazilian Micro Layout, and a fairly large amount of XPS insulation foam left over from construction of my Brazilian Micro Layout, it seemed like a good idea to build another micro pizza layout. This second micro pizza layout has been in the early planning (ie, just thinking very vaguely about it and wondering what scale and gauge to use on it) for quite some time, with the Petra Pizza layout positioned on legs with a new 600mm x 600mm baseboard under those legs around June 2020.

 

 

With the provision for the second pizza layout, that flat space became a place where many and varied items found themselves. Items like scenery and foliage, tools, wood, etc. Until recently. Now I have started construction of this tropical pizza by adding the XPS insulation foam to the existing base under the legs.

 

 

After this, I had to decide on a track plan. I didn’t want this pizza layout to be just a plain circle of track like the Petra Pizza, so I made various track plans in GIMP to give me an idea of the possibilities.

 

 

So far, I haven’t settled on any of the plans above. Although I am leaning heavily towards a plan somewhere between plans 4 and 5 above. Plans 4 and 5 are somewhat inspired by the late Carl Arendt’s ‘Square Foot Estate’ G scale layout. I figured that if 1 square foot can work for G scale, the 4 square feet should work for HO scale! The plan so far is to make the layout to depict a part of a small western Pacific tropical island nation, where bamboo and agave are grown and exported. The railway itself will be HO scale, standard gauge like all my other layouts, and will be operated with Australian outline ready to run equipment (eg, small ex-NSWGR X200 series 2 axle switcher / shunter and some 2 axle open wagons).

Edited September 27, 2020 by jimsmodeltrains

[jimsmodeltrains]

Terraforming is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying something to make it more Earth-like, usually to make it habitable by Earth-like life. It is something that to date has never been done in the real world, but the concept abounds in science fiction and has done for many years. A model railway builder engages in a sort-of terraforming when he or she builds layout. Especially when when the goal is to make the layout as realistic and earth-like as possible.

 

Over the last few weeks I have been engaging in “terraforming” the scenery on the HO scale Tropical Pizza micro Layout I have been building. before I could do that I had to settle on a track plan. This is the track plan I finally chose:

 

 

The layout started with a blank and flat XPS foam surface on top of the wooden base and frame, and has progressed to having some hills, gullies, and other changes in elevation, as well as all track laid. The end result has provided a good base for the next step – adding ground cover, foliage, buildings, etc.

 

Here are some photos of the layout as it’s construction progressed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may notice a different sleeper / tie spacing between the sector plate track (in the quarter circle section in the photos) and the other sections of track. That is because I removed quite a few sleeper / ties and re-spaced the remaining ones to be further apart to give the impression of a lightly built railway on those sections of track with sleepers / ties more spaced apart. But as the sector track is basically a section of sectional track and I needed the rigidness provided by the piece of sectional track, it’s sleepers / ties were not adjusted.

 

I tested what rollingstock and motive power would fit on the sector plate, and found that a OO scale Ruston & Hornsby 48DS and two 22 scale feet British outline wagons fits.

 

As they fitted (just), I decided to purchase two HO scale 4 wheel NSWGR S trucks, which are 18 scale feet long. This should give me just enough room to have a loco such as an X200 NSWGR shunter / switcher and two S trucks or trucks of equivalent length on the sector plate. I have also been giving some thought to which structures to have on the layout. There will be a port in one section, and at the other extremity of the layout (on the opposite side of the hill that runs roughly down the middle of the layout) I am planning a warehouse with a bamboo plantation nearby. Something like this.

 

 

The building in the above photo might be a bit big for the layout and probably doesn’t really fit the theme of the layout, but it gives the general idea of what I am planning. I may try scratchbuilding a more rustic warehouse or freight platform to better fit the space. I am also considering the idea of having a passenger train on the layout (maybe for tourists to the island), so I may add two small passenger depots to cater for that train.

 

Layout Scenario

 

I have sort of settled on the general idea for the layout now, too. It will represent a fictional western pacific small island nation, whose main industries are tourism, and bamboo and agave production for export. But how to justify a standard gauge railway when virtually all small island railways are narrow gauge? The railway on the island is standard gauge because the standard gauge railways in Australia, one of the nearest developed countries, were replacing or decommissioning their older motive power and rollingstock creating a huge glut of those items, so those railways were considering all offers for purchase or even giving the items away which was particularly attractive to the somewhat strapped-for-cash small island nation the layout represents. Being somewhat strapped-for-cash, the small nation may also resort to fashioning some rollingstock of it’s own to fit specific purposes.

[jimsmodeltrains]

Scenery progress on my HO scale micro tropical layout went slowly at first, but progress has sped up more recently.

 

Since the last post about my Tropical Pizza layout, which technically is probably not really a “pizza” layout as it doesn’t have a continuous loop of track, I have been doing a lot of scenery work on it and have complete the very simple wiring. The progress had been slow for quite a while, but in the last week or so I have made a concerted effort to get as much scenery done on this layout as possible.

 

Scenery work over the last week or so has progressed steadily, and now the scenery is very much enhanced, and can even be used for photography in most parts of the layout. I have added foliage, bushes, grass, a concrete port wall, various wooden retaining walls, larger tropical looking plants, and part of a bamboo plantation. I have also added ‘character’ items, such as some bamboo sitting on racks, cars, an abandoned and rusted ute, and general clutter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is still some scenery work to do, and I have ordered a pack of 27 HO scale palm trees of various sizes whose delivery I eagerly await.

 

I also ordered and received the motive power for the layout – an NSWGR (New South Wales Government Railways) X200 class 4 wheel rail tractor, by IDR Models. My wife called it “cute”! I think the purchasing of the motive power was really the motivation for getting the scenery as close to complete as possible so I can actual put the layout in situ under my Petra Pizza layout and start operating it. Here are some photos of the rail tractor and two 4 wheel open wagons, also of NSWGR origin, on the layout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had been wondering what control system the layout will have. The rail tractor I purchased is DCC ready, but instead of adding a decoder to that locomotive I wired a decoder into the wiring under the layout and set the decoder address to 21 (the rail tractor has the number “210”, so 21 is fairly easy to remember). Instead of buying a decoder and then risk it not working on the layout for some reason, I removed the decoder from a locomotive that I never use. This layout would be strictly a single loco railway, so there is really no need to have a decoder in the loco. Having a decoder wired into the layout will mean I can control it using the same DCC system as my Box Street, Pier 39 and Petra Pizza layouts instead of having to connect a DC controller independent of the DCC system used for the other mentioned layouts.

 

 

After I wired the decoder in, I did a quick test using a H&M DC controller to see if the decoder would work with DC (it did), and then I temporarily attached my DCC system to the layout and tested the layout on channel 21 (it worked too). It lives!

[TechnicArrow]

An excellent variety of little details, that manage to make the layout look so much bigger than it really is. The 0-4-0 looks right at home on the layout too. Just needs a few carefully-placed figures to bring it to life!

[jimsmodeltrains]

Tropical palm and fern trees and some people add more life to a verdant tropical island HO scale micro layout.

Since the last blog post about my Tropical Pizza layout, I have received and added tropical trees to the layout. I also found some HO size people to add to the layout, adding some much need human population to the layout.

 

As a point of reference, here is the layout scenery before the trees and people were added.

 

    Harbour view

    Storage track

    Plantation

    Plantation passenger ‘station’

 

And here are the same views after the trees were added.

 

    Harbour view

    Storage track

    Plantation

    Plantation passenger ‘station’

 

The addition of the trees has made a marked difference in the over all effect. I guess that’s what happens when around 20 trees are added to such a small layout. But adding people has also added interest to the layout, providing glimpses of life on the island. from the old lady waiting for the next passenger train, to a cleaner trying in vain to keep the harbour area clean, to the man trying to convince of the size of the fish that ‘got away’.

 

 

 

 

 

To finish off this post, here are some photos of the island’s palm and fern trees and other features.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The $18 spent on the trees in the above photos was money well spent! A few of the left over palm trees were also used on my Brazilian HO scale micro switchback layout as well.

In the time since the trees were added, I have also worked out a train sheet, with a few freight trains and some passenger trains depending on the day of the week being operated. Operating the layout is quite complicated, as siding space is limited and freight cars all have to be loaded or unloaded at the harbour, which means a lot of shunting is involved. I am quite happy with this little layout. It has been a joy to build, and it is fun to operate.

[TechnicArrow]

It's always the little details that bring a layout to life - quite literally in this case, given people and trees are alive! It does look like an excellent scene, and I'm glad you enjoy operating it - that's what matters most.

[jimsmodeltrains]

Here is a video I made of trains running on the layout.

 

 

[jimsmodeltrains]

A recent mishap on my Petra Pizza layout presented an opportunity to replace a longer flat car with a much shorter customised one a similar length to the 4 wheel open gondollas on the Tropical Pizza (also known as Bamboo Island) layout.

I was walking past my Petra Pizza layout some time ago, and I happened to knock the baseboard, and one of the 22 foot open mineral hoppers fell off the layout, and smashed to the floor. The carriage was somewhat broken with the chassis and hopper section separated and bits and pieces strewn all over the floor. Originally the carriage looked like this one:

 

 

As you can imagine I was annoyed at the carnage and I wondered whether I should try and fix it or scrap it or something else. I had been wanting a shorter flat car for a while for my Tropical Pizza layout, and as I surveyed the damage to the hopper that little light bulb above the head went on, and I realised I could convert it to a flat car. So after some further thinking and experimenting, I came up with this:

 

 

 

Basically, it is the chassis of the 22 foot mineral hopper, with a 20 foot container glued to it. I think it’s come up ok. So now I have a short flat car in keeping with the other short rollingstock on the Tropical Pizza layout.

After some looking closely at the ex-Southern Pacific caboose which is used for the passenger train on the layout, I am thinking that I could shorten it too by removing the platform and steps at one end and cutting either side of the side bay to make it a lot shorter – not quite as short as the flat car above, but still a lot shorter than it currently is. These changes are quite in keeping with a cash-challenged railway separated from other railways by ocean, and the need for the railway to make do with what is available in the form of quirky and unusual custom rollingstock.

 

(From https://www.jimsmodeltrains.ws/2021/08/11/tropical-pizza-flat-car/ )

Edited August 11, 2021 by jimsmodeltrains

[jimsmodeltrains]

Shortening of the caboose used for passenger trains on the Tropical Pizza HO scale micro layout makes car movements easier.

In the previous post I described a 22 scale feet flat car that I converted from a 22 foot ore hopper that suffered a mishap. I also mentioned that I had an ex-Southern Pacific caboose on the layout that could also be shorted. After some brooding over how best to approach the task of shortening that caboose, I finally settled on a plan of attack, and commenced to shorten it. It started off looking like this.

I cut at one end of the bay window and close to the end of the caboose, discarding the section between, and then glued the two body parts together. I also had to shorten the weight attached to the floor, then shorten the chassis. By the end of the conversion, with some weathering and painting to enhance how it looked, it looked like this.
 

 

 

To change the chassis to the same length as the shortened caboose body I had to cut the floor in a similar fashion to how I cut the body, then cut the chassis so that where it would join would be offset compared to where the floor was cut so that there was not a weak point with the floor and chassis needing joining in the same place.
 

After all the sections were shortened, the weight was screwed onto the floor, then the chassis glued under the floor, and the end result is a fairly strong and very short (approximately 22 scale feet) caboose / passenger car for the Bamboo Island railways passenger trains between Harbour and Plantation.
 

Short train of NSWGR X200 class rail tractor, short flat car and short caboose leaving the Harbour

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out, and after operating it for the first time I was impressed with how the shortened caboose enhanced operations.

Regards, James

(From: https://www.jimsmodeltrains.ws/2021/09/01/hello-shorty/ ).

[Chops]

Ingenious. This is the only other tropical layout, of any size, I've seen to date, except one I did featuring a bit of the Yucatan. Your track plans are most innovative- not seen anything like that, ever. I am studying your efforts with a view to building a micro layout of a Floridian back water branch line. 

[jimsmodeltrains]

Hi Chops.

 

The track plan is somewhat similar to this plan:

 

 

From https://www.carendt.com/wp-content/uploads/sfer.gif .

 

The basic elements are the same: 3 spurs and a sector plate. Except that my layout is 4 square feet instead of 1 square foot, and in HO scale instead of G scale.

 

A lot of the layouts I've built in the last few years have been inspired by Carl Arendt's books.

 

Regards, James

Edited September 9, 2021 by jimsmodeltrains

[Chops]

Thanks, Jim, I've never heard of Carl Arendt, have to look him up. I've not heard of sector plates, either. Sliding staging tables, but not that.

[jimsmodeltrains]

Hi Chops.

 

Carl Arendt was the guru of micro and small layouts until his death a few years ago. His website, which is now maintained by people who want to see his work continue after his death, is usually located at: https://www.carendt.com/ , although when I checked it at time of posting this it was not working properly and redirecting to somewhere else (somewhat suspiciously I might add), so might not be good idea to try that URL just yet.

 

There is an archive of his website at: https://archive.carendt.com/ which appears to be website up until the time of his death.

 

Hope you find this helpful.

 

Regards, James

Edited September 10, 2021 by jimsmodeltrains